Opposite the entrance hall

Dogs were barking, and the watchmen in the city were dragging their throats and yelling. The sound of beating clappers was particularly obvious in the empty streets. It sounded every five steps and yelled every ten steps, interspersed with the loud and clear cock crowing from time to time.

Ting Xue took the time to lead the servant girl of the Ji Mansion to stand in the courtyard, looked up at the gray sky, walked up and knocked on the door, and said softly: "My lord, it's time to get up."

The knock on the door was neither urgent nor slow, and the person lying on the bed trembled slightly, his brows were wrinkled, and his expression was a little irritable. After a while, he suddenly sat up from the bed, his movements fluctuated too much, and he just sat up. When I got up, it was dark and I was about to faint, so I hurriedly grabbed the edge of the bed to stabilize my body.

He rubbed his dizzy head, squinted his eyes and looked around. There was no light in the room, and the faint light from the corridor came in through the window sills, illuminating some of the surrounding area. When he saw his own room, his face showed Confused look.

Didn't I eat wine at Wenxiang Pavilion? How did I come back?

Ji Si thought about it for a while, and didn't know how much he drank last night, his head was dizzy, and he couldn't think of anything.

Before the knocking on the door stopped, Ji Si glanced sideways and opened his mouth to call someone, but his mouth was extremely dry and his throat was a little tingling. He cleared his throat and said hoarsely, "Come in."

With a "creak", the door was pushed open from the outside, and the light from the outside poured in. Tingxue raised her hand, and the maid behind her lowered her head and stepped forward to light the candlestick, and the room was immediately illuminated. stand up.

Ji Si took the salt water handed over by the maid and rinsed his mouth, spit it into the fish bath, then took the handkerchief handed over by the maid and wiped his face while asking: "How did I come back last night?"

Tingxue paused in her movements, her eyes dimmed, and she pondered for a while before returning: "Wenxiangge sent someone to send you back."

After she finished speaking, she added: "My lord was drunk and unconscious when I came back last night. The servants thought that they had to go to court this morning, so they simply cleaned up for your lord. Your lord didn't know how much you drank, and you didn't even open your eyes. "

"I really drank a lot last night, and now my head is dizzy," Ji Si smiled, "It's hard work for you, I have to wake up early this morning to serve and can't rest."

"What a servant should do," Tingxue helped Ji Si get dressed, and Wen Yan also smiled, "The hangover soup is ready, sir, go to court after drinking it, so as not to be uncomfortable."

Ji Si was still a little uncomfortable, so he didn't refuse, and went to court after packing up his breakfast and drinking hangover soup, and finally asked Tingxue to do something.

He actually knows how much he can drink, it's not enough to drink one glass but it's not enough to drink a thousand glasses. Yesterday he really couldn't control it all of a sudden, and his drinking was a little unconscious, so that after the court meeting, it was not yet the end of the court. At that time, my mind was buzzing, I didn't remember what I said at all, my thoughts were wandering, and I finally got through to the end, thinking about going to the household department yamen to rest for a while, so I walked a little anxiously, and everyone was in a hurry. Down the stairs, the shouts behind him followed suit.

"Master Ji, stay here."

Hearing this voice, Ji Si stopped and looked back, only to see Yan Huaizheng not far behind him, and he was calling himself.

The two had no communication at all, and this person was afraid that the visitor was not kind.

Ji Si glanced at the exhausted appearance before, with a correct posture and a decent smile, nodded at this person, and asked, "Does Yan Shaoqing have something to say?"

Yan Huaizheng walked over with eyes narrowed and grinning, then nodded and said in a warm voice: "It's nothing serious, I just want to ask Mr. Ji what he thinks about the matter that was discussed at the court meeting just now. I saw Mr. Ji lowered his head the whole time. I didn’t make a sound, I must have weighed it in my heart, I’m not afraid to make you laugh, my father wants me to use this to make meritorious service, and the merits will be higher in the year-end assessment, but this fact is tricky, I have no other choice, Therefore, I would like to hear Master Ji's opinion."

This question is a bit difficult for Ji Si. He felt in a daze just now that when he went to the theater, everyone around him was chattering, and the noise made his brain hurt. What's your opinion, besides, he doesn't believe Yan Huaizheng's rhetoric, he is a prostitute who comes to ask himself a white man, and he is not afraid of making people laugh when he speaks out.

Ji Si put his hands behind his back, with a dignified expression, "This matter is indeed a bit troublesome. If you don't handle it properly, you will not be able to make any achievements, but you will also get a reputation for being unfavorable. It is difficult to handle."

"What Ah Yan said is very true," Yan Huaizheng stepped up and leaned over to stare at Ji Si, with an inexplicable expression on his face, "Don't worry about this matter, maybe your Majesty is not in a hurry." Now that we have made up our minds, we can't tell the reason here, and we don't know if A Yansan will be free after the value, why don't we have a drink together?"

Ah Yan?

How could he not know when he became so familiar with Yan Huaizheng.

Ji Si raised his eyebrows, the smile on his face remained undiminished, and the colleague said politely: "It is reasonable to say that Lord Yan invites you to drink, and you have to reward yourself no matter what. Go, you have to go, but it's really a coincidence. There are so many things, I can't get out of here."

The expression on someone's face was three parts sincere, six parts perfunctory and one part hypocritical. It really looked like that. Yan Huaizheng didn't care, and said with a little regret: "It's really not a coincidence. Since Ah Yan is busy with work, you and I will change it. It’s time to make an appointment again, after all, the future is long.”

"What Lord Yan said is that we are officials in the same dynasty and work together for His Highness the Crown Prince. That's one side. I should have walked around frequently. In the past, my eyesight was weak and I was not thorough in my conduct. If I offend you, I hope you will bear more Don't worry, let me be the host tomorrow, please have a drink with Master Yan."

When Ji Si was talking, Yan Huaizheng looked left and right with his hands behind his back, and when his eyes fell on a certain place, he suddenly met someone's gaze, but he didn't show his doubts, so he took the lead to withdraw his gaze, and interrupted Ji Si's talk Non-stop nonsense, "Ah Yan."

"Ah?" Ji Si responded subconsciously.

"A Yan and Qi Shaoqing from Dali Temple must have a good personal relationship, right?" Yan Huaizheng said.

Hearing this, Ji Si understood what Yan Huaizheng's drunken man meant, squinted his eyes, his expression remained unchanged, and he was a little surprised, "What kind of nature is Qi Shaoqing? Master Yan should know better than me, Qi Shaoqing hates me so much, so I just Even the trip to Xiangzhou this time is not speculative, and he can be regarded as a relationship with him in the same dynasty at most, and it can't be called a good personal relationship. Is it possible that Lord Yan misunderstood something?"

"Maybe I really misunderstood." Yan Huaizheng continued to smile, "During the court meeting earlier, Qi Shaoqing's eyes mostly fell on Ah Yan. Qi Shaoqing is relatively indifferent. I read with him in the palace when I was young. Naturally, I know that he can't see who and what is the most, and other people can't catch his eyes, so I thought that the two of you have turned your battle into a jade silk, but now that I think about it, maybe I was wrong."

He watched Ji Si's expression while talking, and saw that the man didn't respond at all, but his eyes were slightly lowered, and his emotions were all blocked, so he had to give up and said: "Look at me, I'm so forgetful talking with Ah Yan, I forgot all about it." Now that we are down to business, we are still waiting for official business in the yamen, so let’s stop talking and go ahead, let’s have a drink together some other day.”

"sure."

The conversation with each other ended like this, and when the people walked away, Ji Sicai put away the smile on his face, and his eyes turned a little cold.

The two foxes of the Yan family, the old one is an old fox, and the young one is a little fox, they are not good things.

He snorted coldly, raised his hand to adjust the court clothes on his body, and walked away with his legs.

The people in the next court dispersed me one after another, Ji Si's figure melted into the crowd, and disappeared after a while.

Pei Zhan glanced at someone beside him, rubbed his shoulder with his shoulder, and said with a playful smile, "Don't look, everyone is gone."

Qi Ran sideways dodged without making a sound, but just gave him a cold look.

"Hey, what's the matter with you and Ji Buyan?" Pei Zhan didn't seem to see the murderous gaze of the person beside him, and continued to ask knowingly: "When I went to court, I stared at the back of the person's head for a long time, I stared at it for a long time just now, I was afraid that you would punch Ji Buyan in the face if you rushed over, tell my brother if that kid offended you again somewhere, let's say it."

"The louder you are, the more you call the censor, and you'll be able to read a book tomorrow." Qi Ran reminded coldly.

Pei Zhan looked back at the supervisory censor who was standing not far away, holding a pen and paper to record the words and deeds of hundreds of officials. He felt a little apprehensive, shrank his neck and lowered his voice, and continued to babble, "You said Yan Huaizheng, that little fox and Ji What are you mumbling about?"

"do not know."

"Have they had such a good relationship before?"

"I don't know."

"Are they going to collude or are they going to work together?"

"do not ask me."

"Tsk," Pei Zhan gave him a blank look, "You look like a resentful woman in a boudoir. If you don't know it, you think your daughter-in-law has been robbed..."

Before Pei Zhan could finish his words, Qi Ran, who waited ferociously, blocked the words back, tightly pursed his mouth, and blinked innocently.

"You look like a gossip girl now. If you don't know, you might think you just came out of the cleaning room." Qi Ran changed the words and returned them.

"Oh, I have a bad temper," Pei Zhan raised his chin and looked like a ruffian, "Let's go to the martial arts training ground, we brothers make gestures."

Qi Ran looked this person up and down, raised his eyebrows, curled his lips and smiled lightly, with all these disdain and sarcasm, he walked past him and left without answering.

"It's my afternoon call, you should say yes." Pei Zhan yelled at the back of the person.

Afterwards, Qi Ran, who had walked a short distance away, waved his hands with his back to him, and replied provocatively: "I will accompany you at any time."

Dumbfounded by the man's arrogant and arrogant attitude, Pei Zhan followed up angrily, walked beside Qi Ran and put away those jokes, and asked with a serious expression: "What do you think about Kashgar?" ?”

Kashgar is a border town of the Jin Dynasty. Almost a hundred years ago, the Jin Dynasty fought a battle with Nandian. The history of Nandian is different from that of the Northern Yan and Xiqiang. It has a long history and strong national power. Instead, it is composed of many small countries. An is the lord of one of the Fang Kingdoms, but he unified many Fang Kingdoms by himself, and established Nandian. The Great Jin Dynasty is located in the north of Nandian. After the rules were taught, he immediately thought of attacking.

Although Nandian's national strength is relatively weak and its military strength is not strong enough, its terrain is excellent. There are many mountains and forests. There are many snakes, insects, rats and ants in the forest. The miasma covers the sky all the year round. It is a natural barrier. Without the slightest preparation, he didn't know enough about Nandian. With ambition and blood, he rashly dispatched troops and invaded the green wood forest on the border of Nandian. Most of his troops were lost by the miasma that suddenly emerged. The Jin Dynasty lost a lot in that battle. He didn't even see the Nandian capital city, so he was beaten by the poisonous gas and fled.

Da Jin was unable to attack, and Nandian was weak and difficult to defend. Finally, the two countries signed an agreement to cease the war. Da Jin, as the antidote to the miasma, had to cede land and pay compensation at the same time. The largest town was Kashgar, which was the border between the two countries. , The history is called the Battle of Qingmu.

Kashgar was originally called Qingyuan, but it was changed to Kashgar after it was ceded to Nandian. In Chinese, it means jade. In order to defend the border of the Jin Dynasty, it is also because the Jin Dynasty has not given up the idea of ​​annexing Nandian, in order to find a way to get rid of the miasma, so that one blow is sure to hit.

But if the Nandian miasma is really so easy to solve, it won't be a stalemate for a hundred years. To be honest, the Nandian miasma is more troublesome than the Western Qiang iron cavalry and the Northern Yan strong army.

Just such a stalemate situation was broken not long ago. The generals of Nandian were captured by tricks. Nandian protects the weak and cherishes love. He is willing to exchange the indemnity and towns he received from the Jin Dynasty a hundred years ago for their generals. Yun, let the tiger go back to the mountain to save future troubles. It stands to reason that this is a good opportunity to work hard, but what happened during the period is only mentioned in a few words in the memorandum. In the end, people let it go back, and Kashgar took it back.

Although this Kashgar has been taken back, Kashgar has been under the leadership of Nandian for a hundred years. The customs and habits have long been different from those of the Jin Dynasty. Do as you please, Dajin is deeply influenced by Confucianism, and there are more rules and regulations, so Kashgar's return to Dajin is actually a bad thing.

Kashgar has been separated from the Jin Dynasty for a long time. How to manage and govern it is not easy to say, and it is even more difficult to do. If it is forced to be bound by the laws of the Jin Dynasty, the people of Kashgar who have become accustomed to the laws of Nandian will find it difficult to accept it. If the management is proper, the people have no worries about food and clothing. If the management is not proper, it will give people a bad idea. They feel that Dajin is not as good as Nandian.

But if you let it go, it is obviously the land of the Great Jin, and it is the subjects of the Great Jin. It is so sad that you don’t even want them in your own country. If they rebel at that time, whether the Great Jin will send troops or not? A few years ago, it was still a compatriot relationship. Maybe there is a relationship between relatives if you talk about it again. Da Jin beat himself up, which is a bit funny to say.

Emperor Chengde's face-saving temperament was afraid that the people's hearts would be unstable. Once the broken messages came out, other people would inevitably not have ideas. I was afraid that the oily people would use this to incite the people's hearts. The people's hearts would be unstable, and the foundation of the country would be unstable.

So this has to be managed, it has to be managed.

Then the problem comes, how to manage?How to manage?Who to send to take care of it?

This is something that the court debated for a long time this morning but did not come to a conclusion.

Qi Ran raised his eyes and looked at the hundreds of officials walking out of the palace gate in groups of three or four, lowered his eyes and pondered for a moment and asked, "What do you think?"

Pei Zhan rubbed his neck and sighed, "I'm not as good as you when it comes to thinking..."

"You are not as good as me in a martial arts competition." Qi Ran cut the conversation.

"Fuck off," Pei Zhan punched angrily and continued, "while saying that force should be used to suppress and kill chickens to make an example to monkeys, anyone who dares to have second thoughts should be killed on the spot, so as to ensure that the people of Kashgar will not have any movement; while thinking that it should Increase all kinds of support so that the people of Kashgar can see Dajin’s attitude and sincerity towards them. These two methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, and it’s hard to say which one is better, but it’s definitely inappropriate.”

"That's right, neither of these methods is suitable," Qi Ran nodded, "Do you know what is the most important thing in Kashgar?"

"Of course it's jade. Isn't there a saying that says that there are [-] exquisite jades in the world, half of which belong to Qingyuan. Back then, people in Nandian changed Qingyuan's name to Kashgar, so it meant beautiful jade, but what are you talking about?" mean?"

"Kashgar is famous for its jade mines. It is mentioned in Diyou Miscellaneous Notes that Nandian believes in all things in nature and feels that every flower and grass is the grace of God. He never dares to destroy it at will. He has ruled Kashgar for many years and has not excavated it. You can know that To them, the thing is just a pile of rotten stones. They don't like this kind of thing at all, but to Dajin, it is a city made of silver. What the emperor wants is not the city of Kashgar, but the city of Kashgar. The jade inside."

Pei Zhan's face changed, and he vaguely understood the meaning of these words.

Qi Ran paused for a while, and then continued: "There is an ancient book that records the jade mine in Kashgar. It is located in the south, surrounded by mountains, forests and rivers. It is mostly made of jade. Above, after a long period of time, a jade mine will be formed, and the rain will be immersed in the water. When the autumn water dries up, the jade mined in the river will be called Ziyu, and the mountain materials will be mined in the rock formation. When the water first recedes, thousands of people will In Laoyu. Laoyu, the key method of ancient jade mining, is to pick, fish, and collect jade in the jade beach of the river, and the shallow river. Make a mistake, otherwise the jade will become waste when it is fished out, and it will be more difficult to polish and carve later. Boil the sea into salt water, and open mountains into iron. There are official iron factories and saltworks in Dajin, but this jade mine It has never been."

"This is just your guess, the emperor probably didn't mean that."

"Recall, General Cheng handed over the booklet during the meeting, and when he learned that Kashgar had taken it back, what was the first thing the emperor asked?" Qi Ran didn't explain much, but just reminded him.

Pei Zhan touched his chin and thought about it:

What Emperor Chengde asked at the time was: "How are the preparations for the four gods and beasts for the ceremony?"

The four-dimensional beasts are the blue dragon, the white tiger, and the vermilion bird Xuanwu. Because the purpose of offering sacrifices to the sky is to convey prayers to the gods of the sky, the ones chosen to guard the altar are the four-pointed beasts, and because jade is made of the essence of heaven and earth, the aura of the sun and the moon, it is the most suitable Carve mythical beasts.

This sentence seems to ask about the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, but in fact, it can be understood after careful reading.

How much jade is left in the treasury.

"According to what you said, the emperor wants to use Kashgar as the jade mine of the Jin Dynasty. It is indeed inappropriate to suppress it by force, and it is even more impossible to let it go unchecked. How can you ignore the money in front of you? You can't advance or retreat. The problem is tricky!" Pei Zhan frowned.

The two had already left the palace gate at this time, surrounded by officials who were getting into the sedan chair one after another, Qi Ran smiled silently, bowed and lowered his head into the sedan chair.

Pei Zhan's curiosity was aroused by him, and when he saw that the person didn't speak for a long time, he knew that this person might have some schemes, so he took his horse and turned over, and slowly followed Qi Ran's sedan chair and asked: "What are you doing?" You must have thought of something, tell me and listen."

Qi Ran opened the sedan chair curtain and rushed to the man sitting on the horse, saying: "You are still not leaving, are you planning to go to the Yamen of Dali Temple with me to have tea?"

"Tsk, look at you like that, forget about it." Pei Zhan rolled his eyes, tightened the reins and turned his head.

"The city gate is over there."

"I know," Pei Zhan said, "That bastard Yan Guanqing wants to eat the crispy cake from South Street, I'll go and bring him some, so that he won't have trouble with me again later."

Hearing this, Qi Ran was a little surprised, and asked in disbelief, "Who?"

"Young Lord of Zhen Guogong Mansion." Seeing that Qi Ran still wanted to ask, Pei Zhan waved his hand, "Tsk, I can't explain clearly to you in a few words. I'll talk when I have time. Let's go."

Qi Ran looked at the horseshoes flying away, shook his head and ordered the bearer to pick up the sedan chair. When he arrived at the Yamen of Dali Temple, as soon as he got out of the sedan chair, Liu Yuandao hurriedly greeted him when he heard the movement, and stood beside him with a pale face Some complicated way: "My lord, you are here."

As soon as he saw him like this, Qi Ran sensed something was wrong, crossed the threshold with his hands behind his back and raised his feet, and asked, "What's going on?"

"It's not a big deal," Liu Yuandao rubbed his nose, hesitantly said without knowing where to start, "This...someone sent something to your lord."

"I didn't say I wouldn't accept anything." Qi Ran frowned, "Take it back."

"It was sent by Ji's mansion," Liu Yuandao was a little embarrassed, "Give me ten guts, and I don't dare to refute Ji Shilang's face."

Keith?

Qi Ran squinted his eyes, and walked to the side of his desk, and sure enough, he saw a lot of food on it, and the pens, inks, papers and inkstones on the bottom were tightly covered, corn baked in the west of the city, eight-treasure gold silk bag in the east, The sauce-flavored meatballs in Dongjie, the jade dumplings in Suiyuxuan, the fried shredded chicken in Piaoxianglou... At first glance, they are all Qi Ran’s favorite foods when he was young. People can't see clearly, it seems that some things just settle down so silently, some things that can't be understood or thought about, suddenly become clear, true and false, false and true, like a phantom.

He messed up those things again, with no expression of joy or anger on his face, he just stood in front of the desk, his eyes downcast in thought.

Liu Yuandao was a little panicked, not sure what his lord meant, so he was so angry that he called out a few times cautiously: "My lord, my lord..."

"What's the matter?" Qi Ran suddenly woke up.

"The Ji Mansion also left a letter, saying that Ji Shilang asked him to hand it over to the lord." Liu Yuandao took out a thin piece of letter paper from his pocket and handed it over.

Qi Ran took it and shook it away, only to see that there was only one sentence left on it:

I see that this life is short, without you, how can I be happy.

He curled his lips into a smile, the smile was fleeting, and then he folded the letter paper according to the crease and stuffed it in his arms, waved his hand and ordered: "Find some people to move all these things out."

"Where to move?" Liu Yuandao asked.

"Hey dog." Qi Ran's voice came from behind.

The Dali Temple is very busy, and the household office is not idle.

Standing outside the yamen, Ji Si waited anxiously. As soon as he saw a figure appearing from the corner, he rushed up to meet him in a panic. When he caught him, he anxiously asked, "How is it, have you eaten?"

The man was wearing the clothes of the servants of the Ji Mansion, he hadn't even caught his breath when he ran, he just shook his head.

"It doesn't make sense, did you buy the wrong one?"

"It's all easy to buy according to the adults' orders," the servant said pantingly, "Not only did the small ones not eat, but the people in Dali Temple even fed them to the dogs."

"I can't, I taught it according to the book." Ji Si frowned and couldn't figure it out.

"What book do you read, Sun Tzu's Art of War is still 36 strategies."

Patting the person on the shoulder, Ji Si grinned and said cheerfully, "The Love of a Merry Man and a Widow Breaks the City God's Temple."

"..."

Ji Si was amused by this silly look.

He can actually understand what Qi Ran is singing. No one understands this man's sullen temperament better than himself. He has a pair of little girls in his heart, but he still looks dignified and serious. As the saying goes, strong girls are afraid of boys I don't believe that I can't deal with a Qi Ziheng.

But this matter is not urgent, what is urgent now is the troublesome matter of the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven, and the beginning of summer is coming soon, and the six departments are all too busy, it is common to do some extra work, rest in the Yamen, sometimes it is time to take a breather when you get busy Not at all, I'm afraid I won't be able to catch up with the grand ceremony, and everyone will suffer if there is a mistake. Even Cao Weiyuan, the old man, can't sleep well, let alone Yang Qin.

Young master Yang has lost a lot of weight due to busy work. Some time ago, he was still laughing at the bald head of the minister of the Ministry of Rites. He hasn't seen him in the past half a month. The most frequent sentence every time is: hair , My hair, help me to see if my hair is bald.

It's the same today, Ji Sisan went back to the mansion on duty, changed his clothes and went to the appointment unhurriedly, just when he opened the door of the box, he heard Yang Qin's loud voice: "Cunxiao, hurry up, help me Look if the back of my head is bald, I can't feel my hair this morning."

Then came Du Heng's helpless voice: "Not bald, still, still."

"Then why didn't I touch it?"

"You touched the neck!"

"Okay, okay," Ji Si closed the door and said dumbfoundedly, "If you touch it again, you'll be really bald."

Hearing the sound, Yang Qin withdrew his head and sighed at the person, "You don't know, I haven't closed my eyes very much during this time, and things are everywhere. I had a nightmare last night, dreaming that I made a mistake and was cut off. Head, almost scared me to pee, this job is really not humanly capable."

"I see you are very energetic." Ji Si pulled out the chair and sat down, poured a cup of tea by himself, lowered his head to cool it down, took a sip and then put down the cup, "Although you are responsible for this matter, the Ministry of Rites and The people in Taichang Temple are still there, they are more afraid of making mistakes than you, so how can you not keep your spirits up, and don't scare yourself by talking about it every day."

"Oh," Yang Qin sighed again, "It's really thanks to you and Cunxiao, otherwise I would be gone, don't say anything, from now on we will be brothers, the kind of Tieqin, I think Instead of drinking tea, let’s do it as a respect.”

"Who is your brother, am I not your father?" Ji Si raised his eyebrows and said.

Du Heng also knew from Ji Si that Yang Qin begged him to help him call his father before, so he couldn't hold back his laughter.

Yang Qin rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed, "I can't explain to my father, otherwise you can see if it's okay, let's talk about it, I'm your godson, you are my good brother!"

Ji Si didn't know what to say for a while, but Du Heng looked at each other, and neither of them could hold back their laughter.

As I said in jest, I have to continue to do serious things.

After putting away the smile, Ji Si asked, "How are you preparing for the grand ceremony?"

"The matter of resting the altar has people from the Ministry of Industry guarding the supervisor. It has not stopped for a day. It may be coming to an end. As for the animals that are used to worship the heavens, they are in charge of the Taichang Temple. The guards on the day of the ceremony are safe. The inspectors and the Governor's Mansion will pay attention, the Ministry of Rites has already begun to arrange the entire process and rules, and I went to see it with Master Xiao Yang a few days ago, and if there is no accident, it will be ready tomorrow."

"Is Kong Lingqiu the person in charge of the ceremony in the Ministry of Rites this time?" Ji Si asked.

"How do you know?" Du Heng was a little surprised.

"He is a member of the Kong family. The etiquette system is very familiar with the rules and manners. Although he has just been promoted and is not familiar with the procedures of the Ministry of Rites, this matter should not have fallen on him, but he is a member of the Kong family. It seems to go with the flow," Ji Si said slowly: "By the way, what does Cun Xiao think of this person?"

Du Heng lowered his eyes and pondered for a while, "He has a deep mind, the city is extremely deep, he doesn't show mountains or dews, he is a capable person."

Ji Si nodded, "Having been dormant for a long time, it should not be underestimated."

Yang Qin looked around, not understanding what these two people said inside and out, "Is this newly appointed Minister of Rites having any grudges with you? Why are you so concerned about it?"

"No, I just feel that Kong Lingqiu came up just after Zhou Ming stepped down. When did Liang Wang's faction get on the line with the Kong family? If he had this line earlier, he would not be suppressed by the prince everywhere, and he still can't find anyone to vent his anger. place, I always feel that there is some connection between the two," Ji Si frowned, "Forget it, don't think about it, maybe I'm worrying too much, so I won't talk about it."

He changed the subject, and chatted with Yang Qin about some business affairs. The pot of tea gradually showed its bottom, and the exquisite dishes on the table were left with only leftovers, and the table ended.

Ji Sita came out of the restaurant, and the afterglow of the setting sun enveloped the city of Lin'an. He looked very beautiful. He stretched his waist and walked slowly to digest his food. When I was by a pear tree, I heard several children arguing there.

"It's all your fault, you see the kite can't be taken down."

"What, obviously you asked me to fly a kite here."

"It's you, it's you, it's your fault. My mother said that a man who doesn't take responsibility is a bad man."

"It's you, it's you, my father also said that women are unreasonable."

……

The red-faced and quarreling appearance of the yellow-haired children was very amused. People passing by stopped to look at it. Ji Si couldn't help laughing after watching for a while. The children were even more aggrieved by this laugh and burst into tears. Coming out, it made him a little embarrassed, like the culprit who bullied children, especially when passers-by looked at him accusingly, as if saying:

This person is so shameless, why did he bully the child and cry, he looks sneaky, like a good person. .

He had no choice but to touch his nose and volunteered to take up the drudgery.

Today is the eighteenth day, it is advisable for Qiao to move out of the grave instead of going out.

While climbing up the tree trunk, Ji Si thought with a wry smile.

The market was still lively and cheerful, and not many people noticed the man on the tree. The bustling crowd was shuttling through the street, shouting one after another. Compared with the rushing crowd, Pei Yao walked very slowly, holding hands Holding a red wooden stick on the table, she looked down from time to time.

"Miss, what is the meaning of this lottery? The blessings of the Yuelao Temple didn't say when the marriage will come for Miss. Let us wait. When the time comes, it will come naturally." The maid frowned. He frowned and muttered.

Flowers will bloom when they are in prosperity, and they will come when spring is warm.

Pei Yao looked down at the wooden stick again. She actually understood the meaning of the stick, but it was useless. She didn't have to marry, but Pei's family was now under the pressure of her elder brother alone. Younger brother, it would be great if there was one more person to help elder brother.

But after all, it is a major matter of my marriage, and my daughter's heart is still looking forward to meeting her favorite, and at the same time, she is also happy with her, but the word love is the most complicated, and the human heart is even more unpredictable.

She heaved a long sigh, and when she walked to the middle of the stone bridge, something floated down from the sky and landed on her feet impartially. Pei Yao knelt down and picked it up, and saw that it was a swallow kite.

"Girl, that kite is here."

Hearing the sound, Pei Yao raised her head subconsciously, and looked straight at the man sitting on the trunk of the pear tree in front of him. He was wearing an indigo blue round neck gown with a green pine embroidered on the chest, the sleeves rolled up to the arms, and the hem of the gown Lifted up and entangled in the belt, one leg was bent and stepped on the tree trunk, the other was hanging in the air, the corners of the lips were raised, and there was a smile on the face, just looking at Pei Yao like this, there seemed to be a lot of affection in his eyes , Against the large red and yellow sunset behind him, the whole person seemed to be coated with a layer of halo by the afterglow, exuding light. In an instant, everything in the world seemed to have no sound, referring to the picture in front of him.

The man held the fishing line and pulled it lightly, the kite flew away from Pei Yao's hands, and in the blink of an eye, it landed in the man's hands. She saw the man nodding and smiling at her, and then jumped handsomely Descending from the tree, handing the kite to a few communicators, straightening the clothes on his body and turning to leave, taking all the afterglow with him.

The so-called emotion is just the right joy, and the confusion of unknown origin.

It was because the scenery at that time was so good, the time was right, the location was right, or the people watching the scenery were too good.

Pei Yao felt that she had waited for her flowers to bloom.

Ji Si didn't recognize Pei Yao. He only knew that Pei Zhan had a younger sister before, but he never saw it. After all, he was a girl. He went to see his younger sister like a man. What's going on, so I heard his name but didn't see his person.

If I really want to say that I saw it, it was the last time I went to Hongfu Temple with Yang Qin, but I just took a few glances from a distance, didn't look carefully at all, didn't take this matter to heart, and didn't know that I was like this A casual smile can mess up a girl's mind. If he can predict the future, let alone laughing, he won't even glance at the kite.

He didn't take this matter to heart, and on the way back home, he looked at the gadgets on the roadside quite leisurely.

The weather in June is very changeable. Just now it was the afterglow of the setting sun, and the summer scenery suddenly darkened, and then the heavy rain fell like pouring water. The bustling market suddenly became a mess, and everyone panicked. Cleaning up the things in his booth, cursing and yelling.

Ji Si ran very fast, but his hair and clothes were still wet. He hid under the eaves and wiped the rainwater off his face with the back of his hand. He stretched his head to look around. The rain came so urgently that he had no intention of leaving. Guessing that it won't be able to stop for a while, he simply didn't worry, and found a clean place to sit, propping his chin with his hands and staring blankly at the street.

The sky gradually darkened, and the people around were picked up by their family one after another. Ji Si was still sitting there, and after a long while, he patted the ashes on his body and stood up, lifted the hem of his clothes and tied it into his belt, and took a deep breath. He took a breath, and was about to rush into the rain with all his might, when he suddenly saw a figure from the corner of the eye, and he was immediately happy, and waved at that person and shouted: "Master Qi, Qi Ziheng, Qi Shaoqing, the champion of Qi!"

His voice was not low, but it was covered by the sound of rain, and it took him several times to hear him clearly.

Qi Ran seemed to have just finished his work, and he didn't have time to change his court clothes. He stopped when he heard the voice, and when he turned around and saw someone under the eaves, he squinted his eyes, and then walked over slowly, "Master Ji is here What are you doing?"

"It's raining heavily, and I didn't bring an umbrella." Ji Si blinked and said aggrieved.

"Oh." Qi Ran responded, then turned around and planned to leave.

It was too late to say it was too fast, Ji Si rushed forward with a stride, bowed his head and bent down, and quickly got under Qi Ran's umbrella.

Qi Ran was a little helpless, "Master Ji, do you know what politeness and etiquette are?"

"waste."

"..."

This person is shameless and shameless Qi Ran has a deep understanding, and also